Knowing the level of liquid in a tank is useful to a variety of applications. For example, urea-based solutions are often used in automotive application to reduce emissions. In particular, diesel powered motor vehicles include a urea tank, separate from the fuel tank, which is used to carry an operating fluid such as an automotive urea solution, or the like. The urea solution is stored in the urea tank and is sprayed into the exhaust gases of the vehicle in order to convert oxides of nitrogen into elementary nitrogen and water. Accordingly, the harmful emissions of the vehicle are reduced. As will be appreciated, various countries in the world have regulated that some vehicles include urea based emissions systems in order to comply with emissions standards. These systems are sometimes referred to as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems or SCR vehicles.
Accordingly, determining the level of urea in the tank is useful to ensure that adequate urea exists for proper operation of the SCR system. Urea is extremely corrosive; as such, providing continuous linear level measurement float type liquid level sensors for use with urea is challenging. Another approach to liquid level measurement attempts to measure the level of liquid based on the change in measured capacitance between probes immersed in the liquid. Such liquid level sensors may entail complex detection and sensing electronics. Furthermore, often tanks have non-uniform shape designed to fit in available space, posing further challenges for detection methods.
It is with respect to the above that the present disclosure is provided.